Braking system for an autonomous vehicle

Abstract

A braking system in an at least partially autonomous vehicle, having one vehicle wheel brake per vehicle wheel, which is assigned to both the primary brake regulation system and a redundant secondary brake regulation system, wherein the primary brake regulation system has a primary control unit and one electromechanical primary actuator per vehicle wheel for actuating the vehicle wheel brake, and wherein the primary control unit generates primary positioning signals for activating the respective electromechanical primary actuator on the basis of a setpoint deceleration specification generated in a pilot system and/or a setpoint deceleration specification generated on the part of the driver by a brake pedal. The secondary brake regulation system has a secondary control unit independent of the primary control unit and one electromechanical secondary actuator, independent of the primary actuator, per vehicle wheel.

The invention claimed is: 
     
         1 . A braking system in an at least partially autonomous vehicle, comprising:
 one vehicle wheel brake per vehicle wheel, which is assigned to both a primary brake regulation system and a secondary brake regulation system,   wherein the primary brake regulation system has   a primary control unit and   one electromechanical primary actuator per vehicle wheel for actuating the vehicle wheel brake, the primary control unit is configured to generate primary positioning signals for activating the respective electromechanical primary actuator on the basis of a setpoint deceleration specification generated in a pilot system and/or a setpoint deceleration specification generated on the part of the driver by a brake pedal, wherein the secondary brake regulation system has   a secondary control unit independent of the primary control unit and   one electromechanical secondary actuator, independent of the primary actuator, per vehicle wheel, the secondary control unit is configured to generate secondary positioning signals for activating the respective electromechanical secondary actuator on the basis of the setpoint deceleration specification generated in the pilot system, each electromechanical primary actuator and each electromechanical secondary actuator has a blocking function, by which, in a parking situation, each respective actuator is configured to block an assigned vehicle wheel by brake actuation, the pilot system has a signal connection to the primary control unit via a primary bus, the pilot system has a signal connection to the secondary control unit via a secondary bus independent of the primary bus, and a tertiary bus connecting the primary control unit and the secondary control unit is configured to exchange status information between the primary control unit and the secondary control unit.   
     
     
         2 . The braking system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the brake pedal is a component of a foot pedal simulator unit having at least one pedal sensor, and the foot pedal simulator unit is configured to convert the mechanical pedal movement into an electrical foot pedal signal, which is the setpoint deceleration specification generated on the part of the driver. 
     
     
         3 . The braking system as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a primary vehicle electrical system and a redundant secondary vehicle electrical system, which each supply the primary control unit and the secondary control unit with electrical energy independently of one another.   
     
     
         4 . The braking system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein each vehicle wheel is assigned a primary speed sensor and a secondary speed sensor. 
     
     
         5 . The braking system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein
 in case of error in the primary brake regulation system, the primary control unit generates an error signal, using which the secondary control unit is activatable via the tertiary bus, so that in place of the primary brake regulation system, the secondary brake regulation system takes over the implementation of the setpoint deceleration specification.   
     
     
         6 . The braking system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein
 in normal driving operation, both the primary brake regulation system and the secondary brake regulation system are in use, so that both brake regulation systems operate in parallel operation.   
     
     
         7 . The braking system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the primary control unit and the secondary control unit are structurally equivalent, and/or the primary actuator and the secondary actuator are structurally equivalent. 
     
     
         8 . The braking system as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising:
 a primary vehicle electrical system; and   a redundant secondary vehicle electrical system, which each supply the primary control unit and the secondary control unit with electrical energy independently of one another.   
     
     
         9 . The braking system as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein each vehicle wheel is assigned a primary speed sensor and a secondary speed sensor. 
     
     
         10 . The braking system as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein each vehicle wheel is assigned a primary speed sensor and a secondary speed sensor. 
     
     
         11 . The braking system as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein
 in case of error in the primary brake regulation system, the primary control unit generates an error signal, using which the secondary control unit is activatable via the tertiary bus, so that in place of the primary brake regulation system, the secondary brake regulation system takes over the implementation of the setpoint deceleration specification.   
     
     
         12 . The braking system as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein
 in case of error in the primary brake regulation system, the primary control unit generates an error signal, using which the secondary control unit is activatable via the tertiary bus, so that in place of the primary brake regulation system, the secondary brake regulation system takes over the implementation of the setpoint deceleration specification.   
     
     
         13 . The braking system as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein
 in case of error in the primary brake regulation system, the primary control unit generates an error signal, using which the secondary control unit is activatable via the tertiary bus, so that in place of the primary brake regulation system, the secondary brake regulation system takes over the implementation of the setpoint deceleration specification.   
     
     
         14 . The braking system as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein
 in normal driving operation, both the primary brake regulation system and the secondary brake regulation system are in use, so that both brake regulation systems operate in parallel operation.